Yahoo Finance Volatility 101: Should WPP (LON:WPP) Shares Have Dropped 45%?
While not a mind-blowing move, it is good to see that the WPP plc (LON:WPP) share price has gained 11% in the last three months. But that cannot eclipse the less-than-impressive returns over the last three years. In fact, the share price is down 45% in the last three years, falling well short of the market return.
Check out our latest analysis for WPP
To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.
During the three years that the share price fell, WPP's earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 4.9% each year. The share price decline of 18% is actually steeper than the EPS slippage. So it seems the market was too confident about the business, in the past.
You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).
We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of WPP's earnings, revenue and cash flow.
What About Dividends?
It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. As it happens, WPP's TSR for the last 3 years was -36%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!
A Different Perspective
It's nice to see that WPP shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 24% over the last year. Of course, that includes the dividend. That certainly beats the loss of about 3.2% per year over the last half decade. This makes us a little wary, but the business might have turned around its fortunes. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand WPP better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for WPP that you should be aware of.
WPP is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on GB exchanges.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
